she don't cook mashed potatoes, she don't cook t-bone steaks.

me and my friend have decided it would be a good idea to cook before school gets hectic and work piles up. so we've bought some ingredients to make spaghetti bolognese. first we got:

• 1 packet of minced beef
• 1 packet of spaghetti
• 1 onion (if you like onions, you can always get more; but we're cheap asses so we only got one)
• 1 jar of tomato sauce
• 1 tube of garlic puree

well, i'm not going to lie. i don't cook. i'm from hong kong, and bitches don't cook in hong kong. my friend however has always watched her mom cook, so she knows a little about it. this is our recipe and it's by no means the best, but if it worked for us beginners, it'll work for you.

1. you cut the onion into dices and then you fry them
i'm not going to lie, this is one of the easiest steps you can imagine, BUT make sure you have a super sharp knife, or else it would take you days. it took me and my friend 15 minutes just to cut half an onion. not cool.

add some oil (we used some weight-watchers normal oil we found in the communal kitchen) into the pan/saucer. add more if the onion pieces start to stick to the saucer. fry them until brown. simple.

2. you add the minced beef into the saucer and cook until it's not raw
by this time, the mix should start smelling nice and meaty. if you're vegetarian, i'm sorry, but i love my meat in my spaghetti.

so, as this is not my own kitchen, we lack the appropriate utensils. this should not be encouraged and we would be shot by a chef if he saw us cooking like this. however, if you're a student just like me, it doesn't matter as long as the utensils are clean. improvisation is very important when you have limited resources.

3. start cooking the spaghetti
translation to normal english: dump it in hot water and let it submerge into water until it's the softness of your preference. it took around 15 minutes for me and my friend to get to our optimum softness.

also, add a pinch of salt and some oil to prevent sticking. you don't want all your hard work go to waste, do you?

4. add tomato sauce and garlic puree

dump the tomato sauce into the meat mix. stir and let it simmer. we used dolmio tomato sauce. it's a little sweet if you ask me, but oh well i think it wasn't too bad. if you think the mix is a little tasteless, put some salt or some garlic puree. i like garlic, so i've put around half a tube in.

5. sift all excess water out from the spaghetti

it's almost done. don't worry. just make sure all water's sifted away. if not, you'll either make the meat mix less salty or more tasteless; or you'll get really soggy spaghetti. either way it's not great.

6. make it look pretty

most important step of all. all humans are very visual beings. if they see the good-looking food, they'll assume the food's actually good. 

now some artsy shots of spaghetti. enjoy :)

i can't say i haven't enjoyed the whole process. it's different and it makes myself so proud when i was eating the spaghetti. also men find women who can cook so much more attractive, so i guess spaghetti bolognese is a good starting point. bon appetite.

ラーメン博物館

so i went to japan for a few days and things went well. too well. i gained at least 5 pounds and i'm not even joking. i've learnt that money spent is directly proportional to the money spent. one of the highlights of the trip was definitely going to the momofuku ando instant ramen museum.

we didn't plan this. i dropped the guide on the ground and it opened on this page. talk about destiny and all that jazz, but it did happen. my brother decided he wanted some souvenirs for some friends, and so we went. going there really wasn't that big of a deal, but making our own cup noodles was just bomb. 

each of the noodle cup is 300 yen (about 24 HKD or 3 USD). not exactly expensive for a souvenir, but extremely expensive for a cup noodle. well as the big spenders that we are, our family got 18. we were also given big markers to draw on them and so we did. i'm just gonna say i'm a child at heart. the one that i've kept for myself looks like this.

front of my artwork

and the back of it.

i must say my design is rather dashing

18 of these. it was a pain to bring back home i must say.

after we've drawn on them, the processing begins. first, we were given the noodles. i mean if you aren't given the noodles, it defeats the point of just going there. however they first put the noodles in upside down, and the machine turns it over, so the noodles would be in the cup in the right way without sticking out. clever right? one of the good things about working in these corporates is that they do think of all the details. like pixar. if you don't know about my love for pixar, click ME to see it.

it's like a small cup-noodled ferris wheel

then it comes to packaging it. they use a plastic bag to seal everything, food and all. in order to make sure the bag is sealed and tight-fitted, they use a heating mechanism to make the plastic stick onto the cup. do i know the science behind? no i don't, but it sure looks good.

after it's all done, we get to put them in plastic bags that can be filled up with air and used as air sacs. another really clever invention by a japanese company. i approve, momofuku ando. kudos to you.

and there's me with all of the finished products

you might think: "sam, you've travelled half way across osaka to go to a museum and make instant noodles?"

well the answer to that is, yes i have. was i thrilled to have gone? well sort of, but not really. on the other hand, it was great, because my brother had so much fun. my brother is a very very sweet boy, who doesn't really mind going with us to anywhere as long as we are happy. this time round though, he was the one who told us he wanted to go and all, and i'm glad we did. to see the smile on my brother's face when the final product came out was priceless. too bad i didn't snap it down with my camera, but it was definitely worth every single penny.

it's all about food

food. where do i start? well let's start with my opinion on food. i've never been picky with food, but when it comes to the food i like, i just can't stop. hence my body size. however, if you'd let me choose, i would always choose to eat (a lot) and then exercise (a little). i mean, you're not here on earth for a long time, so why not enjoy yourself and eat whatever you like? also, i bet guys like girls who are cuddly and chubby, like teddy bears. who would rather going home to a stick than to a polar bear? well, i'm the polar bear. i know this is an excuse for myself to ignore the fact that i'm gaining some pounds, but i'm happy.

so what is your favourite food? my brother's fave is definitely chocolate. i have never seen anyone gobble up chocolate as quickly as my brother. he's practically the chocolate black hole. well for me it's cupcakes, especially cookies and cream ones. *drooling* i can eat it anytime, anywhere, with anyone, in any way. i'm not exaggerating. i'm usually a savoury person, and i do appreciate it when people give me food. however, if you want to win me over, my heart and soul, it's cupcakes. 

so me and my friend / wife, jade, hung out the other day and we found a cupcakery in tsim sha tsui. surprise surprise i had to sit down for some. i got a cookie monster, while jade got a pepperminty-chocolate one. even just thinking about devouring that cupcake is making my mouth water. if i could marry cupcakes, i would. i mean why not? that means if i eat my spouse, i'll be able to marry more. there would never be a day when i've had enough of cupcakes. 

perfection on a plate

my usual creepy friend posing with cupcakes

today is my first day of work and i didn't want to be late, so i've decided to leave home earlier. i wouldn't say i arrived too much earlier than the time i should've. i was only one whole hour early, and as per usual, being the dumbo that i am, i didn't bring any sort of entertainment with me. a whole hour, sixty minutes, three thousand six hundred seconds. thinking "well maybe i'm a little hungry, i should get some breakfast", i strolled into starbucks and ordered myself a small hot chocolate.

"miss, what's your name?"

"sam. my name is sam."

then i proceeded to sit down at the nearest table. around ten minutes later, one of the barristas called out "a small hot chocolate". i looked around, thinking "hmm, someone has good taste", but no one came forward for it. so i got up and looked at it. miss tam. not me. i sat down. sam, tam. sounds kinda similar, doesn't it? then i realised: maybe i'm the miss tam. people don't usually call me sam, even though i insist on people calling me that. sammy, sammie, samcho, samancho, sam lee. but never sam. i guess also i'm in hong kong and people are not used to girls having guy names. thank you starbucks, for changing my surname. it sure made my day.

i'm loving my new surname. sam tam. awesome.

after losing self-control not constraining myself from any of my comfort food, i met up with another friend, janice, for supper.

"sam, i'm gaining weight"

"don't be silly, you're not. you're as skinny as a stick."

"i have a boat party in october and i wanna look good."

damn. looking at my friend who is about half my size, all i really wanted to do at that time was just to hide in a corner with a tub of ice cream and to never see the light of day again. i'm turning eighteen in october and damn, i want to look good too. "let's eat salad" i suggested, feeling super-duper guilty about all the food i had in the past week. maybe it's time for me to shed some weight. don't get me wrong, i feel happy eating; but i think it's about time i faced the truth. it's about time i should lose some weight and control my appetite.

so we went to this cool place for salad. it's nice there and i loved the salad i had. maybe it's not that bad dieting and living a healthier lifestyle. i know i said earlier that i think guys like chubby and cute-looking girls, but really who am i kidding? before they want you fat to scare other guys off, they'd want you as hot as a victoria secret model, which i'm nowhere near. so i guess the way to go right now is to eat super healthy. super healthy doesn't mean yucky food. it means food with less oil, sugar, salt and all kinds of harmful substances. i've just got to learn to embrace it.

my healthy chicken-roasted-garlic-onions salad. it's actually pretty amazing

but this doesn't mean i'm giving up on cupcakes. i will NEVER give up cupcakes. ever.

why, sometimes i believe six impossible things before breakfast

one of the biggest problems i need to deal with after i've come home is definitely jet lag. for you those who don't really know what jet lag is, it messes you over and makes you hungry at the wrong timings. not good. jet lag usually lasts for around 1 week for me. quelle horreur, je sais. so for a whole week, i sleep at 3 in the morning and wake up at 10. this doesn't sound that bad, but when everyone else in the family wakes up at 7 and sleeps at 11 at night, it's a problem.

so this morning, when i was still in the state between having consciousness and just down right dead, i felt my phone vibrate. i looked at it. it's my brother.

"sam, me and chloe are having breakfast at oliver's super sandwiches, do you want something?"

"ermm, what's there in the shop for breakfast?"

"i'll send you the menu and you can decide, yeh?"

so then my brother sent me a whole 5-paged breakfast menu. i chose the one i wanted and started messing about. around twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and in came my brother, with a plastic bag in his hand. 

"you didn't tell me what you wanted to drink, so i decided you might enjoy a chocolate"

i know it's just a breakfast and it's not usually a big thing. however when everything else goes against your plan and someone shows them they care, it's impossible to not feel grateful. i know most of the time sometimes siblings can be a pain in the ass, they do care and they are the ones you can rely on. 

a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. i guess it's just the same with women. it's always good to start the day with a good breakfast, because it gives you the energy. arnold schwarzenegger once said: "my body is like breakfast, lunch and dinner. i don't think about, i just have it." you are what you eat, so go ahead and get something nice for breakfast. it'll do you wonders.

the chocolate my brother has decided i might enjoy. i couldn't finish the whole thing but it was nice

that looks so yummy. i won't mind eating another.

keep calm and relax my ass off

summer has officially started for me and so i packed my bags/suitcases and hopped onto a plane to hong kong, which is home. even though i am sad about leaving school and my friends behind, it's just great going back home and spending time with my family. so when i saw my mom and co. at the airport, i was over the moon. 

the heat in hong kong is almost unbearable, so i had chosen to go straight back home right after my flight journey to just shower and sort out my life basically. the air-conditioning is on and it felt like heaven in the flat. then this grabbed my attention.

my poor sofa. apparently the new ones on its way. thank god.

someone has broken the sofa. after a long period of interrogation, i found out that my brother and my god-brother are the culprits. boys boys boys. apparently my brother was on the sofa, watching tv, while my god-brother decided it was a good idea to just sit on my brother. well i think not.

as you can see in the next picture, i have successfully marked my territory at home with my laptop and other random bits of items i own. i mean there are four kids at home, so if i don't move fast, i won't get anywhere to just sit down and chill on my laptop. this does in fact feel a little like a dog peeing over land to show the others who's boss. in my household, i am.

i'm proud to announce sam is the winner of the pissing contest.

 my brother's favourite spot in the whole flat for sure. there's actually a reason why it is though. if you look straight, you see the ginormous tv with all kinds of game consoles and machines and whatnots. if you look right, you see the view of the balcony and sometimes a little strip of sunset. if you look left, you look directly into the kitchen / the food prepared. the science of choosing where to sit.

i then ventured into my room next. in order to make it more homey, i've lit a candle and it's still sitting quietly in a corner burning away. it smells like lemon tarts. i mean why not? even though it's meant to be a christmas scent, it's my (and my sister's) room, so i'm just going to do whatever i want unless momma lee gets involved (she never plays fair).

ain't this cute? my little baby fisheye-lomography-colourful-cutsy film camera that hangs off my keys. might have to get if off my keys though. last time when i had them on, i couldn't open the doors, because my hands were too small to handle that bundle in my hand. did i mention i have a teddy bear about the size of a tennis ball hanging off my keys? haha maybe not.

my little fish eye <3 it actually takes picture.

this is the intellectual corner. just looking at it makes me feel smart. sadly my sister has contributed into this little pile. right now i need to get on and just read as much as i can. next book on the reading list: paradise lost - john milton.

as you can see, there's quite a lot for me to go through. but hell, i've got a whole summer.

i have decided to add a photo of me dressing up as a bride when i was a child. my mom has always wanted me to get married and to have a family of my own. do i want that? hell i don't know, i'm only seventeen and i refuse to make life-changing decisions (other than university choices). but yeh, here is a photo of me fancy-dressing. i was very very cute.

looooook at those chubby chubby cheeks. god i was adorable

home slippers. may i just add, these are the smallest pair i can find in the whole flat and now they're mine. my preeeecious. it's not like anyone's got big feet in the family. my mom and my sister are a size 36. i'm a 37. my dad's a 38. my brother's a 41. my god-brother's a 43. but look at these, i swear they're like a size 50 or whatsoever. doesn't mean i don't love them though. they're just so comfy.

white and oversized slippers. gotta love anything oversized <3

although coming home is a wonderful thing, something always happens against our wills and we humans, who have no control over matters like these, call it misfortunes. however in my case, it's worse and more serious than just misfortune. one of my four dogs is in hospital and in critical conditions. she has a malfunctioning liver and i don't even know if she is actually alright or not right now. to those who don't have any pets, pets are just like family, and i really don't know what to do without any single one of mine.

bebe, if you can hear me, don't worry about anything. i'm home now and i'll come see you tomorrow. be strong my baby girl. i promise it won't be as hard as the last time you were in hospital. you can show them who's the boss and come home healthy. it's just another obstacle and you'll be fine. i'll get a cake and we can celebrate when you're out. i love you and stay strong girl. come home soon, we all miss you.

my baby girl when she was healthy. you'll do great. i have faith in you.

summer's begun and i'm planning to just enjoy myself. it's not like i'm always home. also it's the last summer before i turn eighteen / legal. whooop can't wait. so right now i'm going to relax and just let everything run its course. summer here i come.